


The fairy man won't hold for you (the hollow).

by boogara (Alexander_Slamilton)



Category: Buzzfeed Unsolved (Web Series)
Genre: AU Supernatural! Shane, Angst, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Honestly it is hard to explain., M/M, Road Trips
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-05
Updated: 2018-04-05
Packaged: 2019-04-19 00:00:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,943
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14224701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alexander_Slamilton/pseuds/boogara
Summary: " Above him the infinite abyss stares in to his soul. It is asking him a question he does not know the answer to. Closing his eyes, he tries to escape it. The abyss follows him behind his lids. It yells at him to go. Something inside him bursts to the surface and it is screaming.“We need to move,” he says, “we need to go.” "One road trip changes the boys in more way than one.





	The fairy man won't hold for you (the hollow).

Tension builds in the air the same way as heat. Slowly but surely climbing higher and higher. A feeling that something is going to happen. Electricity buzzes through the whole world. A storm is going to break. 

 

Somehow he is in the middle of it. They are both in the middle of it. He does not know what though. Everything is fogged up like condensation on glass. 

 

He is lying on the roof of his car in the middle of Nevada. Above him the infinite abyss stares in to his soul. It is asking him a question he does not know the answer to. Closing his eyes, he tries to escape it. The abyss follows him behind his lids. It yells at him to go. Something inside him bursts to the surface and it is screaming. 

 

“We need to move,” he says, “we need to go.” 

 

“What?” Ryan asks, looking at him, eyes wide. 

 

“We need to leave,” Shane says, not knowing what is making him feel the need to go.

 

They get into the car. Nothing is visible from the windows, only a few feet ahead of them is illuminated by the headlights. What they can see has a grey pallor to it. 

 

Shane suddenly feels like he is not real. 

 

He wonders, not for the first time, if there is something different about him. TV snow takes over those corners of his mind where these questions are generated. All he knows is he has to go. Where he does not know. The dark is moving his body for him. He lets it. Shane surrenders to the dark. Ryan is staring at him with his big brown eyes. Shane can see that they are filling up with tears. He grips the wheel, knuckles turning white. 

 

It feels like his heart is trying to pick it’s way out of his ribcage. Hammering beneath his skin with a pickaxe. He looks out the window and the darkness has eyes. 

 

“Shane, please,” Ryan is tapping on the plastic beneath the window. “What are you doing? Where are we going? You’re scaring me, man.” 

 

“I don’t know,” Shane doesn’t look at Ryan, “we just had to go, we have to get there.”

 

“The house?” Ryan asks, he’s talking about their latest filming site for Unsolved. 

 

“No,” Shane shakes his head. They aren’t going to Glenbrook, not tonight. “Go to sleep.”  It scares him more when Ryan’s eyes slip shut and he obeys.

They pass hills. The hills point them in the right direction. West. They whisper. The road is cracked from lack of water. The trees are bent by the desert wind. Branches like fingers trying to grab them. The wind howls at them. Shane hears it through the windows and puts his foot down on the gas.

 

Crossing the state line in to Arizona does nothing. The itch is still there under his skin. Ryan is still asleep. And the darkness still screams at him. He can feel the insects in the earth like he is lying under it. 

 

The sun rises blood red, staining the rock faces. They are passing through Flagstaff when Shane sees it. A shape, flitting between the houses as they drive past Postal Boulevard. It looks like it has wings. He shakes his head, remembering he does not believe. The rising sun tells him that he should. The clock on his dash tells him it is seven. Time is moving. He knows it. He can feel the earth spinning. 

 

 

Winona is next. It is just as empty as Shane feels, just earth and bush. There’s a skull stuck on top of a sign. The sun shines through the eye sockets a gross imitation of life. The dead screech at him to keep moving. The gas counter on his dash says otherwise. 

 

 

He stops. The gas station is empty apart from a truck with bullet holes in the side panels, and dust covering the windows. The sign tells him he’s at Winona Trading Post. He fills the car up, his hands shaking. The heat beating down on him. Shane feels like he is being bleached like bones in the desert. 

 

“Shane,” Ryan mumbles, still half asleep as Shane slams the door of the car. He doesn’t remember paying for the gas but the receipt in his hand told him he did. “Shane, where are we?”

 

“Winona, Arizona. Now sleep. We’ll be there soon.” It is a lie. The clouds in the sky and the heat on the wind tells him so. They would drive for another day. 

 

“Shane,” Ryan shifts, he’s still half asleep. His eyes are drooping shut. Shane takes his hand. Brushing the knuckles of his left hand down Ryan’s face. 

 

“Ryan,” he says. Their faces are close, breath mingling. Their noses brush as the sun shines through the windscreen. Ryan grips on to Shane’s bicep, his fingers digging into the muscle. It is Ryan who pushes up and kisses him. It is a heady feeling. The dead are still screeching at him. The world is still turning. He still feels like he is wrong. It feels like he existing but a little to the left. Ryan’s lips ground him. They anchor him. He gives in to them. Until the screaming becomes to loud to ignore. “Ryan,” it comes out as a groan. “We need to go,” he knows Ryan does not understand. He pleads with his eyes for Ryan to understand. 

 

“Okay,” Ryan nods, even though Shane knows he’s scared. 

 

The Devil’s Canyon is next. Shane swears that he can hear him. Running behind them. Hooves on the road just behind the bumper of their car. There is no stopping here. 

 

Heat is pounding on them. The suns rays hammering on to the roof. The car does not offer much shelter but Shane is grateful for it. The walls of the canyon are closing in. They slither, and creep closer and closer. It feels like they barely make it out alive. 

 

Shane is not sure how much time passes before the reach Joseph City. The sun is higher in the sky an eye watching them go. It’s rays like fingers trying to pick them up. People come out of their houses to watch them pass. 

 

Red dust is whipped up by the desert wind. Shane feels thousands of pairs of eyes watching them. Ryan grips his hand and lays their joined palms on Shane’s knee. 

 

They do not stop. The dead, the earth, the wind all howl at them to move. They do. 

 

They pass Holbrook. The trees tell Shane not to go into the city. He listens. He gives in to listening to the trees. They do not go into the city. Creeping around the outskirts A billboard tells them loudly that “HELL IS REAL”. Shane knows that it is. It feels like he is living there already. The town water tower stands black against the blue sky; it mocks him as he presses his foot down on the gas pedal. 

 

There’s more empty land between them. Bushes and trees twisted bent into shapes by the wind. The roads are becoming more crowded. The Sun Valley RV Resort stands against the desert. It is devoid of people but something dark lurks in the shadows. 

 

He catches sight of antlers and thinks its just another skull. The whispers tell him that it is something alive. Shane hopes that it is not. Whatever it is joins the ranks following them. 

 

“What was that?” Ryan asks; he has seen it too. Shane’s stomach sinks. 

 

“No idea.” He answers. He does not know. 

 

The thing follows them across the border to New Mexico. The road bypasses Gallup. Shane breathes out a sigh of relief. Gallup is shrouded in shadow and he cannot see through it. Rock breaks through the desert. Hulking structures stained in red. They have only been driving for two hours. Not long enough, the sun tells him so. 

 

Even in the harsh light of day the desert feels alive. Shadows and shapes move through the town. The buildings are hunched in on them. Inching towards the car. They look like they are sentient. Shane breaks the speed limit. He breaks it more than once. Their hands and still joined. Shane is grateful that the car is automatic. 

 

The desert has swallowed them with its bright red maw. Shane just feels like a shape. Like he is two dimensional. The desert is taking part of his soul. They pass Whispering Cedars Fire Department there is no one there. The trucks are lined up behind the door. The trees do talk to him. They whisper secrets to him. He hears but does not say it out loud. 

 

“Shane, really, where are we going?” Ryan breaks the silence. 

 

“I don’t know,” he does. Or he has an inkling. It has grown inside him like mushrooms. He doesn’t know for certain. Part of him wishes to test it, the other half screams in wrongness. 

 

The desert stretches on. It is more ancient, more dangerous than anything Shane has come up against before. It is like the desert wants to stop them. At the same time it is like the desert is urging them on. There is a conflict deep within nature itself. Shane can feel it. It is rushing like blood underneath the surface skin of the world. 

 

 

The sun hangs in the sky. A beacon showing them westwards. Shane does not need to use it and yet he feels comforted in knowing they are going the right way. 

 

They cross another state line, Texas, Shane shudders. There is something in the air in this state which makes him want to leave as soon as possible. A foreboding atmosphere leaks out of the road. The trees are not friendly here. Their branches screech at him as they shake in the wind. And they offer no help. 

 

The first stop point they notice is in Amarillo. Ryan point them out. There are three motels all within a block of each other. They choose the Super 8 cause its got an indoor pool. It is $53 per night; Shane assures the receptionist that they only want one night. 

 

He forgets to ask for two beds. Ryan doesn’t seem to mind as Shane presses him in to the mattress. Cheap Chinese takeout boxes piled on the countertop. Their bodies slowly morphing in to one. Shane felt fire licking at his body. Ryan’s touch burned on to him. In that grubby motel room, Shane finally felt more than he had in the last day. The sun set on Amarillo the last vestiges of light streaming into the room where Shane held Ryan. The dead no longer screamed at him. The dark no longer looked. But the morning held the promise of it all starting again. 

 

***

 

They rose and checked out at 6am. The rising sun taunted Shane, having allowed him the night to rest. The town leered at him. The road called to him. 

 

Texas shouts at him leave. The state is barely controlling its anger. Calling to Shane that they don’t want his kind there. Shane doesn’t know what the ground means when it says that. He doesn't dare ask. 

 

They pass Groom, Mclean, Shamrock. They ignore the signs for Wheeler and Aberdeen. Ryan seems to sense Shane’s distress. He doesn't ask why Shane’s brow is furrowed or why his eyes have changed. 

 

Texola is right on the border. Shane doesn't stop. Not until they’ve been an hour in Oklahoma. They hit Clinton as the counter hits empty. The landscape here is green. There is grass covering the soil. There is soil and mud, not dust. 

 

The Domino Fuel stop has a sign promising cheap gas. Shane pulls into the lot. Ryan’s stomach rumbles. 

 

“Good thing they have a diner,” he says. “We’ve not eaten since last night.” 

 

“Right,” Shane nods, he should feel hungry. He doesn’t. 

 

They get ribs. The server says that they’re the best. Something isn’t right about the server. His empty smile and dead eyes yell at Shane to leave. They pay, for the ribs and gas. 

 

“Do you need me to drive?” Ryan asks, “I mean you’ve been driving for ages, I can help-“

 

“No,” Shane shakes his head. 

 

They leave Clinton. Another hour or so and they hit Oklahoma city. It is a cacophony of chaos and Shane nearly crashes the car as sounds and emotions hit him. There is so much concrete. It only takes them an hour to get through. The trees celebrate their return. 

 

There is nothing but corn and farmland for miles. Shane feels better. The empty space inside of him filling the closer they get to where they’re going. Another billboard with “HELL IS REAL” yells at them. Shane ignores it. He knows that hell is real. He knew it in Arizona and he knows it now. The sky mocks him. And something inside him still buzzes with TV snow. 

 

They don’t stop in Shawnee. Shane hears laughter on the wind near there. 

 

The sun is setting before Shane stops again. The darkness creeping in. Its fingers are grabbing for the car. Shane knows the aluminium is not going to be enough soon. He does not think about it. He does not want to. The dark calls his name as he pulls into Roland. The Interstate Inn is their only choice. 

 

“You could go to Fort Smith, they got a Double Tree there,” the receptionist says through several missing teeth. 

 

“We’re good.” Shane shakes his head. He takes the key he is given. 

 

There is only one bed again. Shane does not pretend it is a mistake. Ryan doesn't comment, he presses a kiss into Shane’s lips and pushes them down on to the bed. Shane goes willingly as Ryan’s hands burn on to his flesh. The dark is kept out by an invisible force. 

 

***

 

In the morning the drive resumes. The frantic pace consumes them. Energy continues to build in the air. It feels like it is mere moments before lighting strikes. Electricity poorly contained haunts them. 

 

There are dark spaces between the trees. They meet up with the Arkansas River somewhere near London, Arkansas. Ryan laughs at the name. Shane sees a figure in the trees. It is small and pointed. It seems to fly like a humming bird. It joins the innumerable masses following them. The river flows beside them. It feels like a border. 

 

Another big city is met in the form of Russellville. There are student milling the streets in the early morning sun. Ryan points one out. Noting his pointed ears and slight features. The student looks at Shane. They exchange a nod. 

 

“You know him or something?” Ryan asks. 

 

“No,” Shane shakes his head.  

 

They don’t stop again until they reach Memphis. This is the first real city in which they have stopped at. Ryan insists they stop properly. They walk into the Arby’s on Union Avenue. A TV in the corner shows a picture of them. Shane grabs Ryan’s hand. They turn and leave before anyone notices them. Memphis is left behind as the sun starts is decent in to the Earth. The gas counter goes into the red but Shane does not stop. 

 

Sherman is near the border with Alabama. The gas counter is nearing empty. They need to go before the dark gets them. And there are things following them. These are the only things Shane knows. He barely knows who he is. 

 

They stop. Ryan gets the gas this time. He brings back a moonpie for Shane. 

 

“The only thing they had,” he shrugs. He has a bottle of mountain dew in his right hand, another moonpie in his left. 

 

The border with Alabama is only a half hour away. Shane can feel himself relaxing. They would beat whatever deadline it was. They’d make it. Where he didn’t know. His hands are not so white on the steering wheel anymore. 

 

He allows himself to breathe as they pass Hamilton. The trees still whisper to him. They call his name and trick him into seeing things. The dark is lurking in the corner of his eyes. He catches flashes of things that aren't human. They grin and fade as he looks properly. He shakes his head. 

 

They enter Birmingham. There is something old that lurks amongst the streets there. It wants them to leave. The traffic is snared up so they linger longer than they wanted to. It has many teeth. Shane wants to ask it what it is. He doesn't though. He hears it’s howl and wonders how Ryan hears nothing. 

 

Harpersville is when Shane realises where they’re going. 

 

“Opelika,” he says. 

 

“What?” Ryan turns to him. “What about it?” 

 

“That’s where we’re going,” Shane can’t bring himself to look at Ryan. “My mom brought me there when I was like, fifteen I think, but I can’t remember anything about it.” 

 

They lapse into silence again. Ryan looks more relaxed. Shane doesn’t look in the rearview mirror. They are exactly an hour out when Shane feels it. They’ve just passed through Gantt’s Quarry. It feels like they have driven through some invisible barrier. 

 

“Oh,” he says. Its almost like the electricity that has been following them moves into him. There is buzzing under skin. He doesn't stop driving though. The feeling moves into his bones and he knows. 

 

Jackson’s Gap. Thirty-five minutes. And Shane changes. 

 

Gold Hill. Fifteen minutes. Shane sees everything. 

 

The Bottle. Ten minutes. Ryan sees him. For the first time. 

 

“Shane,” is all he says. Their hands find each other. 

 

Opelika. 

 

“Welcome to Court,” the Queen says, smiling at him. 

**Author's Note:**

> So this is a thing. All the places they stop are really along the way. I used google maps to map the whole thing. It is a 24-hour drive from Nevada to Alabama. I'm gay and don't drive so I have no idea how cars work. I think I did okay. Lemme know. 
> 
> I have a BuzzFeed Unsolved tumblr now: buzzfeedunsclved. come and yell at me there.


End file.
